structural roots of gbv and how it expresses itself through sexual

“Pills are bad for the liver, they produce gastritis, they can sterilize or produce Down
Syndrome children; my sister was born with a blood mole in her face.”
Another important issue is the strong conviction modern contraception fails: the pill, the
condom, even injections, and DHS data prove this is so, due to inadequate method use.
Hearsay is very strong on this and women in poverty generally distrust contraceptives.
Only Reproductive Sex within Marriage
Adding to this, conservative moral, religious and even social and economic issues lead
to valuing virginity and abstinence until marriage for young people and, especially,
women, and this makes even having boyfriends being unacceptable, making modern
contraceptive use “wrong”. Girls in poor settings refer they would prefer to tell their
parents they became pregnancy due to rape than acknowledge having a boyfriend.
Following Christian religious beliefs, women are expected to control male´s desire and
not tempt men; men are not held responsible for the consequences of their heterosexual
and reproductive acts. Girls’ sexuality evidences more control and punishment (stigma,
discrimination, and exclusion). Women are blamed for abortions, divorces,
unfaithfulness, even for rape.
Cuzco church with religious motif: Hell for sinners.
Photo credits: Maria Raguz
Because of low acceptance of modern methods and permanent methods for young
people, condom use, the most natural of the unnatural methods and the one easier to
hide and also, available to buy on demand, is the most accepted contraceptive method.
Adolescent boys and girls in the study –especially in Lima- know how the basics of how
to use it, but males do not want to use it because “it does not feel the same”, and females
feel disempowered to get them to use it, and fear being abandoned or subjected to
physical violence if they insist. Also, a girl is not expected to carry condoms with her,
“being prepared” implying “promiscuity”.
Another issue is young people´s sex is mainly unplanned and thus, unprotected. To this
it adds the difficult accessibility to modern contraception in poor and rural settings.
Even if they are freely provided by public health services, access to these services is
very limited, as has been proven in studies about the delays to access health care in
obstetric complications leading to maternal deaths. For young people this access is not
only logistically complicated but social and cultural factors make it more difficult for
them, and especially females, to look for sexual and reproductive health care. This is so